A planned reform of the European Union’s pharmaceutical industry no longer contains a ban on the repackaging of prescription drugs for resale, according to a draft document obtained by Reuters. Parallel traders, who buy and resell prescription drugs to exploit price differences among EU states, had faced a repackaging ban in an earlier version of the reform due for formal adoption this week.

EU Industry Commissioner Guenter Verheugen faced pressure from parallel traders who argued a ban would have wiped them out, because they would have to repackage drugs so that explanatory leaflets to patients are in the right language. “Instead, a new article…has been added to allow manufacturing authorization holders such as parallel traders to replace safety features under strict conditions,” according to the document.

Verheugen’s initial plan for a repackaging ban had also faced opposition from fellow commissioners who feared it would have hampered the free movement of goods in the 27-country EU, Reuters notes, adding that parallel trade accounts for $5.7 billion, a small part of the prescription market. Traders argued thes ability to undercut manufacturer prices saves national health systems 500 million to 1 billion euros a year. EU states and the European Parliament have the final say on the reform.

Verheugen’s original reforms also angered consumer and health professionals as the plan sought to ease a ban on advertising prescription drugs by allowing drugmakers to give details of their products on the Internet or in printed media. But Reuters writes that opponents appear set for a disappointment, barring any last-minute changes.

There is currently a ban on naming prescription drugs in an advertisement. The reform to be adopted this week would allow products to be named in ‘information’ that drug firms publish in a newspaper or on the Internet, according to the document obtained by Reuters.

Verheugen has, however, inserted a provision that websites carrying info on prescription drugs must not have web-TV so they comply with a continuation of the ban on television and radio advertising of prescription drugs in the EU.

Direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription drugs is permitted only in the US and New Zealand and was heavily attacked by consumers in the wake of the 2004 withdrawal of Merck’s heavily promoted Vioxx painkiller. Roche last week maintained DTC undermines the industry’s reputation in the eyes of patients but that Europe was, conversely, too restrictive.

The Association Internationale de la Mutualite, Health Action International and Medicines in Europe Forum said allowing drugmakers to ‘inform’ the public about their products directly would delay competition from cheaper generic drugs.

‘European patients need relevant, independent, comparative, unbiased and non-promotional information about health, treatments and medicines, not an exercise in building brand loyalty,’ they told the EU executive in a letter.